University of Pannonia Nagykanizsa

Project description:
The basis of terrestrial life and at the same time one our main natural resources is water, especially freshwater, the quantity and quality of which fundamentally affect our existence on earth. Extreme phenomena threaten not only the quality of human life but ecosystems too. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals also include sustainable water use, which aims to preserve good water grade for future generations. This goal is hampered by numerous challenges from climate, environmental and social point of view. Achieving sustainable water management requires an interdisciplinary and holistic approach, as set out in the National Water Science Research Program of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which has been running for many years (for an explanation, see Báldi et al. (2020) The role of water sciences in sustainability. Hungarian Science, 181 (5): 656 -667). The program identified knowledge gaps where scientific approaches and modern technical solutions can be used to prepare for extreme situations as well as to achieve sustainable water management, water quality and the preservation and improvement of aquatic ecosystems. All this provides a scientific basis for the effective implementation of the National Water Strategy, combining science, innovation and practical application. Some examples are: new types of contaminants such as drug residues and micro-plastics in surface waters; the ecological status of the large lakes, especially Lake Balaton; precision irrigation and water management in agriculture; efficient urban water management, water and wastewater treatment; research and implementation of “smart” tools and methods that enable adaptive management in support of water safety and sustainability.
The bad news is that the use of our waters today is threatened by significant changes in quantity and quality as a result of climate change. Changes in water regime and weather affect the entire aquatic ecosystem, the transformation of which causes events that are difficult to predict. It is known e.g. that the low water level of Lake Balaton in 2000-2003 and the large-scale algae growth in 2019 could not be foreseen despite the thorough research and monitoring, because the solution of such a task requires a more complex, higher level network cooperation, combining exploratory research, research and development, and last but not least, innovation results leading to implementation. In this way, we can achieve the value of water science and water safety, apparently as one of the programs of the National Laboratories that are being established these days.
The good news is that vulnerability to climate change, anthropogenic impacts, industrial, agricultural and communal water use can be investigated and reduced by identifying extreme water quantity, water quality and ecological conditions; developing intelligent sensory and remote sensing monitoring of important surface waters; forecasting events by numerical, deterministic, statistical and artificial intelligence-based methods, and by the combination of these where necessary; as well as development of methods to preserve the pre-change state and adaptive intervention, control and utilization methods as solutions to change.
With the closing of VITUKI, the Hungarian water sector has lost its scientific background, while a number of significant water management issues need to be addressed, such as extreme low water levels, declining ability of floodplains to drain floods, river sediment transport problems, eutrophication problems in our large lakes and reservoirs, or the preparation for the new water quality criteria. The most significant water management issues can be addressed efficiently and in a goal-oriented manner by creating a research unit with good efficiency and rapid response, which takes into account water management, ecological and national economic aspects.
The planned National Laboratory intends to provide professional assistance for integrated water management activities affecting the quality assessment of watercourses (rivers and floodplains), large shallow lakes, groundwater management, regional and agricultural water management, urban water management, sewerage and catchment basin, helping the implementation of WFD measures and overall monitoring evaluation. The aim is to do all this in such a way that the ecosystem services of water bodies are improved and that the assessment of water quality is not of a follow-up nature, but predictable.
The aim is to effectively extend the activities of the National Laboratory in the framework of bilateral collaborations and projects to the transboundary tasks included in the European Water Framework Directive and National Water Strategy, and to participate more broadly in Transnational and Horizon Europe research projects in the coming years (an example of this is the DanubeSediment, an unprecedentedly large-scale international project led by the Budapest University of Technology covering the entire Danube basin). In the latter program, Water Safety is of a high priority.
Based on our expected results, we will increase the integration and practice of a uniform hydrological approach between different water resource users, reducing water waste and scarcity and “end-of-pipe” pollutions.
The complementary and reinforcing interdisciplinary professional and scientific background of the laboratory network would strengthen the research results needed for the future domestic and international role of the water industry.
The Laboratory can provide a decisive role in the various fields of training, in the theoretical and practical acquisition of the highest level of technologies, with a special role for nurturing talent and involvement in international education.

Project implementation period: 01 June 2022 – 28 February 2026

Project budget: 8,000,000,000 HUF

Type of research: R&D

Lead Beneficiary: University of Pannonia

Project Partners: Budapest University of Technology and Economics, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, HUN-REN Balaton Limnological Research Institute, University of Debrecen, University of Miskolc, Ludovika University of Public Service, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Széchenyi István University